Alt-right

For the descriptive term used in several countries for various policies or groups that are right-wing, see New Right. For the online magazine publication based in the United States, see Alternative Right.

In November 2008, Paul Gottfried addressed the H.L. Mencken Club about what he called "the alternative right".[2][5] In 2009, two more posts at Taki's Magazine, by Patrick J. Ford and Jack Hunter, further discussed the alternative right.[6][7] It has been used more frequently since self-described "identitarian" Richard B. Spencer founded Alternative Right in 2010[8], although that on-line magazine became defunct by about December 28, 2013 and redirected to Radix Journal.[9] In April 2010, the Alternative Right blog was started, and has continued to operate into 2017, with many of the same authors as the Alternative Right on-line magazine.[10]

Philosophy

While the movement is philosophically diverse, on the whole it has been united on key political issues such as immigration reform; and opposition to political correctness, and to social justice and left-wingidentity politics in mainstream media, academia, and workplaces. Various authors have attempted to define the movement's collective ideologies:

In March 2016, Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulus of Breitbart News Network published an article titled "An establishment conservative's guide to the Alt-Right".[11] The authors divide the loosely-organized movement into four separate ideological "camps":

"The Meme Team" - Described as young, rebellious, internet-savvy individuals rallying around trolling and use of internet memes (such as the popular Pepe the Frog meme). Described as less concerned with politics, and motivated more "fun, transgression, and a challenge to social norms"; "drawn to the alt-right for the same reason that young Baby Boomers were drawn to the New Left in the 1960s".

"The 1488ers" - Refers to white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and extremists primarily motivated by racism, hatred, xenophobia, or tribal violence. Mainstream media is criticized as portraying "The 1488ers" as the main or whole constituent of the Alt-Right, and states that "it’s clear from the many conversations we’ve had with alt-righters that many would rather the 1488ers didn’t exist." While not an official designation, the white supremacist Daily Stormer blog founded by Andrew Anglin may be described as representative of "the 1488ers". The article also associates the "1488ers" with the white nationalist website Stormfront.

The 16 Points of the Alt Right

In August 2016, author and political blogger Vox Day proposed a 16-point philosophy[12] of the Alt-Right, emphasizing nationalism, Eurocentrism, identitarianism, and opposition to international free trade, political correctness, and egalitarianism - describing the movement as an alternative to both mainstream American conservatism and libertarianism. The manifesto was translated into several languages, including German,[13] Polish,[14] Portuguese,[15] Greek,[16] Dutch,[17] Spanish,[18] French,[19] Swedish,[20] Finish,[21] Hebrew,[22] Slovak,[23] and Russian.[24] Richard Spencer commented on the manifesto by saying "I might quibble here and there but @voxday's definition of the #AltRight is quite sound."[25][26]

Lawrence Murray has written a shorter 7-point[27] alternative philosophy that contains some overlap with the manifesto written by Vox Day.

Related movements

Some sources have attempted to connect the alt-right to the manosphere or "red pill" online subcultures, a loose collection of bloggers who write about masculinity and criticism of feminism, and sometimes overlap with the seduction community (also known as the pickup artist (PUA) community), whose theories on seduction and application of evolutionary psychology to seduction and sexual access to women are often referred to within the community as "game"). Manosphere blogs such as pickup artist Roosh V's Return of Kings, Mike Cernovich's Danger and Play, and Vox Day's Alpha Game Plan, have also written articles in favor of alt-right politics and criticizing political correctness and social justice within mainstream media and academia, though the alt-right is not equatable with the manosphere.

The Alt-Right has at times also been conflated with the Neoreactionary (NRX) or "Dark Enlightenment" movement, some of whose writers may form a sub-division within the alt-right.

Criticism

Cathy Young writing in Newsday called the alt-right "a nest of anti-Semitism" inhabited by "white supremacists" who regularly use "repulsive bigotry".[30] She further notes the alt-right's strong opposition to both legal and illegal immigration, and their "hardline" stance on the European migrant crisis of 2015–2016.[30]Chris Hayes on All In with Chris Hayes described alt-right as a euphemistic term for "essentially modern day white supremacy."[31] Taylor Andrews claimed that "some white supremacists from the 'alt-right,'" had chosen Taylor Swift as "an icon for their movement."

Betsy Woodruff, wrote in The Daily Beast that the Alt-Right is "a neoreactionary effort ... of right-wing agitators brought together by their opposition to immigration ..., animosity to Muslims, and general opposition to multiculturalism[32] ... white supremacist ... incubated in racist forums like StormFront and meme-loving corners of the internet like 4chan and 8chan" and sharing "a disdain for political correctness, feminism, zionism, Jews in general, immigration (especially Hispanic and Muslim immigration), and anyone who criticizes them for holding these views."[33]

Ian Tuttle, writing in National Review, states that "The Alt-Right has evangelized over the last several months primarily via a racist and anti-Semitic online presence and says they are "by definition" racists.[34] Tuttle further says "for Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos, the Alt-Right consists of fun-loving provocateurs, valiant defenders of Western civilization, daring intellectuals—and a handful of neo-Nazis keen on a Final Solution 2.0, but there are only a few of them, and nobody likes them anyways. Bokhari and Yiannopoulos describe Spencer and American Renaissance founder Jared Taylor as representative of intellectuals in the alt-right."[35]

In a 2015 article in BuzzFeed, reporter Rosie Gray describes the alt-right as "white supremacy perfectly tailored for our times", saying that it uses "aggressive rhetoric and outright racial and anti-Semitic slurs", and notes that it has "more in common with European far-right movements than American ones." Gray notes that the alt-right is largely based online, and supports Donald Trump's candidacy while benefiting from his coattails. According to vlogger Paul Ramsey, the alt-right are not neo-Nazis,[29] although Gray notes that some hold historical revisionist beliefs such as Holocaust denial.[29] Professor George Hawley of the University of Alabama suggested that the alt-right may pose a greater threat to progressivism than the mainstream conservative movement.[36]

Mainstream conservative opposition to the alt-right

Although some conservatives have welcomed the alt-right, others on the mainstream right[30] have attacked the movement as "racist" or "hateful," particularly given the alt-right's overt hostility towards mainstream conservatism and the Republican party in general.[29][37]David French, for example, attacked the alt-right as "wanna-be fascists" and bemoaned their entry into the national political conversation.[38] Mainstream conservatives oppose any discussions about racial cognitive differences.[39] Some sources have connected the alt-right and Gamergate in multiple ways, such as Milo Yiannopoulos' supportive articles on Breitbart.[37][40][41] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Breitbart has become the dominant outlet for alt-right views.[42]

GOP strategist Rick Wilson reportedly said of the Alt-Right that "most of them are childless single men who masturbate to anime ..."[43]

Hillary Clinton's campaign speech about the Alt-Right

On Thursday, August 25, 2016 in Reno Nevada, Hillary Clinton held a rally during which she gave an anti-Trump speech. That she intended to address alleged links between Trump and the 'alt-right' was announced in The Hill on Tuesday, August 23, 2016[44] and was widely discussed on blogs.

Originally scheduled to commence at 10:00 PDT, Clinton did not take the stage until around 12:00 PDT.

During the speech[45], which had been claimed by many would be an anti Alt-Right speech Clinton:

Claimed that "Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia,"

Claimed that birth-right citizenship was a bedrock constitutional principle,

Claimed that the Alt-Right was an emerging racist ideology,

Claimed that the Alt-Right had effectively taken over the Republican party,

Linked Nigel Farage (the former leader of the UKIP) with Trump and "hard-line, right-wing nationalism around the world", and

Linked Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, to the wave of "extreme" nationalism around the globe.

A video clip of her speech seems to show a member of the audience shouting out "Pepe"[46][47] when Clinton mentions the Alt-Right.

After a relatively short speech, Clinton declined to take questions and left the rally. Further, claims have been made that the crowd attending was small and contained many government employees.[48]

Reactions to the Alt-Right

The Alt-Right was sporadically portrayed as "far right"[49], "racist and anti-semitic"[30][50] by various sources, being "white supremacist"[29] or as having ideological origins among paleoconservatives.[51] Others reported that "white supremacists" from the alt-right had begun calling Taylor Swift an "Aryan goddess."[35] However, some articles have more positive reporting, describing the Alt-Right as a "highly heterogeneous force" that refuses to "concede the moral high ground to the left".[37]

After Clinton's speech the New York Times said "Clinton’s speech was intended to link Mr. Trump to a fringe ideology of conspiracies and hate ..." but that the Alt-Right was thrilled that it offered "a new level of credibility."[52]

According to Richard Spencer in Radix Journal, even Time Magazine came out with an article on the Alt-Right, doing so, however only in its print edition.[53]

Allum Bokkari and Milo Yiannopoulos provided a more balanced view of the Alt-Right and said that "the alt-right has a youthful energy and jarring, taboo-defying rhetoric that have boosted it's membership and made it impossible to ignore."[54] Bokkari and Yiannopoulos point to thinkers like Oswald Spengler, H. L. Mencken, Julius Evola, and Sam Francis as having influenced the Alt-Right. They also state that the "French New Right also serve as a source of inspiration" for many in the Alt-Right.